My heart leaped for joy, for I was dreadfully fatigued.
"Does this road lead through the English Line?"
"That's another thing," returned the woodman. "No, you turned off
from the right path when you came up here." We all looked very blank
at each other. "You will have to go back, and keep the other road,
and that will lead you straight to the English Line."
"How many miles is it to Mrs. N - -'s?"
"Some four, or thereabouts," was the cheering rejoinder. "'Tis one
of the last clearings on the line. If you are going back to Douro
to-night, you must look sharp."
Sadly and dejectedly we retraced our steps. There are few trifling
failures more bitter in our journey through life than that of a
tired traveller mistaking his road. What effect must that tremendous
failure produce upon the human mind, when at the end of life's
unretraceable journey, the traveller finds that he has fallen upon
the wrong track through every stage, and instead of arriving at a
land of blissful promise, sinks for ever into the gulf of despair!
The distance we had trodden in the wrong path, while led on by hope
and anticipation, now seemed to double in length, as with painful
steps we toiled on to reach the right road. This object once
attained, soon led us to the dwellings of men.
Neat, comfortable log houses, surrounded by well-fenced patches of
clearing, arose on either side of the forest road; dogs flew out and
barked at us, and children ran shouting indoors to tell their
respective owners that strangers were passing their gates; a most
unusual circumstance, I should think, in that location.
A servant who had hired two years with my brother-in-law, we knew
must live somewhere in this neighbourhood, at whose fireside we
hoped not only to rest and warm ourselves, but to obtain something
to eat. On going up to one of the cabins to inquire for Hannah J - -,
we fortunately happened to light upon the very person we sought.
With many exclamations of surprise, she ushered us into her neat and
comfortable log dwelling.
A blazing fire, composed of two huge logs, was roaring up the wide
chimney, and the savoury smell that issued from a large pot of
pea-soup was very agreeable to our cold and hungry stomachs. But,
alas, the refreshment went no further! Hannah most politely begged
us to take seats by the fire, and warm and rest ourselves; she even
knelt down and assisted in rubbing our half-frozen hands; but she
never once made mention of the hot soup, or of the tea, which was
drawing in a tin teapot upon the hearth-stone, or of a glass of
whiskey, which would have been thankfully accepted by our male
pilgrims.
Hannah was not an Irishwoman, no, nor a Scotch lassie, or her very
first request would have been for us to take "a pickle of soup," or
"a sup of thae warm broths." The soup was no doubt cooking for
Hannah's husband and two neighbours, who were chopping for him in
the bush; and whose want of punctuality she feelingly lamented.
